In a military environment, everyone is from somewhere else. My father was in the Marine Corps and so we moved around a lot, mostly on the west coast and then finally to North Carolina for junior high and high school. Then I went to Notre Dame and the Midwest became home.

When clients come to us, they know that we will work hard to maximize the value of their property. They’re going to get something different, something distinctive. People will be able to point to it and say, “That’s a Lucien Lagrange building.” It’s a brand. It’s a signature.

I had known Lucien from working together in the past, and one day I just happened to run into him as I was getting off the train. We got a drink the next week and he asked me what it would take to open a new firm. Soon I had developed a whole business plan and we hatched the idea for what became the new Lucien Lagrange Studio.

The JW Marriott started as a lobby renovation. Initially we weren’t sure we could convert a grand banking office into a luxury hotel. But we created something that I don’t think many people would’ve imagined was possible. I like taking people there because it’s so impressive, it’s so inspiring to see this hotel in a historic office building.

You have to listen to people. You have to let people express themselves and say what they feel and think. In a project where you’ve got five or six or sometimes ten people, you want to make sure people realize just how important they are to that process.

I see myself as a creator of organizations, not just of buildings. A few years ago, this company had just a few people. Now we’ve turned a corner. You know, the experiment is over. We’re a full studio with nothing but opportunities in front of us.